By Way of Deception

BY WAY OF DECEPTION 273hour shuttle diplomacy approach to reach an agreement beforethe December 17 treaty-signing deadline set at Camp David, butthat fell apart at the last minute when Begin refused to negotiateseriously, creating considerable distrust between Washington andJerusalem. Early in 1979, Begin sent his legendary foreignminister, Moshe Dayan, to Brussels to meet with Vance andEgypt's Premier Moustafa Khalil to explore ways of resuming thedeadlocked talks. But Begin bluntly announced that Dayan woulddiscuss only "how, when, and where" negotiations might beresumed, rather than discussing the actual content of the CampDavid agreement.In late December 1978, Israel's usually divided Knesset had voted66 to six in support of Begin's tough position toward Washingtonand Cairo. As an illustration of their mood, Israel halted a militaryequipment pullback that had been planned to help speed the Sinaiwithdrawal following a peace treaty. Israel also stepped up itsattacks on Palestinian camps in Lebanon, prompting FloridaDemocrat Richard Stone, head of the Senate Subcommittee onNear Eastern and South Asian Affairs, to say that the Israelisappeared to have "drawn the wagons into a circle."Following the Knesset vote, Begin telephoned U.S. Jewish leaders,urging that pro-Israeli groups launch a write-in and telegramcampaign to the White House and Congress. A group of 33 Jewishintellectuals, including authors Saul Bellow and Irving Howe, whohad criticized Begin's past inflexibility, sent Carter a letter callingWashington's support of Cairo's position "unacceptable."In February 1979, hoping to get the talks moving again, theUnited States asked both Israel and Egypt to meet with CyrusVance at Camp David. Both sides agreed, although Israel wasangry about a report to Congress on human rights prepared byVance's department that referred to reports of "systematic"mistreatment of Arabs in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.Two weeks before the Washington Post published this report,Israeli army tanks had moved into West Bank villages at dawnand crushed four Arab homes. The government also